In the round-up: Fernando Alonso says his first run for Aston Martin today will be a valuable head start on their 2023 season.
In brief
Tuesday test “gold” – Alonso
Alonso will make his debut as an Aston Martin driver in today’s test at the Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi. With only three days of pre-season testing per team allowed next year, he says it is a vital opportunity to adjust to his new surroundings.“I think it’s going to be important, but it’s going to be more in terms of comfort. What the steering wheel, grip, buttons, pedals, these kind of things.
“Next year we have only one day and a half in Bahrain and then you start a championship. So today, on Tuesday, it’s gold for these kind of things.
Vesti returns to Prema for second F2 season
Mercedes junior driver Frederik Vesti will move from ART to Prema, who he won the 2019 Formula Regional Europe championship with, for his second season in Formula 2 next year. “With his skills and the experience he has matured, we expect him to be a contender and we are determined to support him the best way we can,” said Prema team principal Rene Roisin.
Vesti is due to test Mercedes’ Formula 1 car for the first time today.
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Binotto dismisses “criticism and rumours”
The “big passion” around Ferrari means there is always “a lot of criticism and rumours,” said Binotto. “That has been true in the past, it’s the situation right now and it will be in the future.
“So obviously when these speculations were out I had a chat with my chairman John Elkann, together we discuss openly what was the best way to move forward and we decided to release a statement. That was maybe the best way to close any speculations and clearly those are speculations, totally, with no foundations.”
Mazepin offers “words of wisdom” to departing drivers
Nikita Mazepin visited his former Formula 2 team Hitech at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and drew attention to his appearance in a social media post offering thoughts for the four drivers who followed him out of Formula 1 at the end of the season.
The post, themed around the five stages of acceptance, included the following thought on ‘anger’: “You blame everyone but yourself for having to leave F1. Particularly the ‘Drive to Survive’ film crew. You watch the races obsessively and yell at the screen.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
How F1 driver Albon went from an induced coma back to racing (Men's Health)
'Albon had been unconscious for over a day, missing Saturday qualifying, where teams vie for the best times to decide Sunday’s starting grid. Albon awoke, thinking he had just been out for the few hours of surgery. His first words to Harding after opening his eyes: “What were the quali results?” He was surprised his family and performance coach looked so distraught; in their minds Albon had practically died.'
Five Questions with Taylor Kiel (IndyCar)
'Other organisations have multiple programs, but they’re siloed. Here, you’ve got exposure to everything under one roof. We all sit in the same room working together.'
McLaughlin lands Good Ranchers backing for 2023 (Racer)
'Along with aligning with the Penske-owned Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May for promotional activations at the Indy 500, the company will continue to add to its “donation of over 1,000,000 meals to local food banks.'
Control Electronics, explained (Mercedes via YouTube)
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it in via the contact form.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
CEO Jost Capito discusses our exciting 2023 driver line-up…👀🔥#WeAreWilliams pic.twitter.com/teBr5fvmCz
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) November 21, 2022
Looks good on you @HulkHulkenberg 👌#HaasF1 pic.twitter.com/dfh4LiLqOZ
— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) November 21, 2022
Join us to celebrate an incredible season with a Homerun around Milton Keynes 🏠 pic.twitter.com/O1GoCvgFvT
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) November 21, 2022
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Have Haas done the right thing by hiring the experienced Nico Hulkenberg to replace Mick Schumacher?
Absolutely the right choice for Haas. They’ll benefit greatly from his experience on both the developmental as well as the racing aspects. I’m pretty excited to see Haas with this new pairing. I expect them to jump one or two spots in the WCC next year based on driver pairing alone. Setting aside their alleged increased budget from their new title sponsor.
@SjaakFoo
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Clare Msj, Dane, Rachel and Richard!
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd November 2022, 11:21
The Menshealth post about Albon’s recovery is good.
I was initially skeptical whether I could read through, as I’m generally quite sensitive to surgery stuff, but good thing I could in the end.
COTD: I’m still skeptical about their choice, but ultimately time will tell how right they were to let Mick go for effectively a semi-retired driver for nearly three years.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
22nd November 2022, 19:25
I agree with comfort being important. It took me years to work out how to set up your seat to make it comfortable.
Claus J
23rd November 2022, 16:33
The 1&1 logo is already off of the jumpsuit of the Hulk. I thought that was a German brand; but it must be tied to Mick…